TACOMA, Wash.—Lewis & Clark College women's lacrosse put together their most dominant half in program history to earn a comeback 13-4 win over host University of Puget Sound on Sunday afternoon. 

THE BASICS
 
Lewis & Clark 13, Puget Sound 4
(Lewis & Clark 3-0) 
(Puget Sound 1-1) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
In their return to the field that they earned their first-ever win as a program last Spring, the Pioneers found themselves in a tight game through 30 minutes. Despite heavily outshooting the host Loggers, the Pioneers trailed 4-3 at the break. 
 
Lewis & Clark came out with a different offensive approach in the second half and the defense stepped up as well as they outscored Puget Sound 10-0 in the final 30 minutes. 
 
Sophomore Aviana Gonzales scored four of her game-high five goals in the second half. She netted a new season-high for goals and added one assist to tie her season-high for points (six). 
 
Sophomore Sage Swegle added a hat trick with four goals and tacked on two assists for six points. First year Mack Searle was the third Pioneer with a hat trick. Searle notched three goals, a career-high eight draw controls and chipped in three ground balls and three caused turnovers. Junior Kate Meinhard was the final Pioneer to score. Meinhard finished with one goal, five draw controls and two caused turnovers. 
 
First year Kaitlin McRae earned her third-straight start and limited the hosts to four goals on six shots on target. She played the first 46:16 and was replaced by sophomore Zoey Hamel-Hyland (0 shots faced) for the final 13:44. 
 
Gonzales opened the scoring less than five minutes into the first quarter but it would be the last time Lewis & Clark would score for nearly 15 minutes. Searle tied the game at 2-2 with 13:42 to go in the second quarter. Meinhard netted a free-position goal with 11:31 left in the half but Puget Sound would respond with a goal with 5:50 to go to take a 4-3 lead into the break. 
 
Lewis & Clark completely turned the game around in the third quarter where they outscored Puget Sound 7-0. 
 
Gonzalez tied the game at 13:39 to start a string of 10-straight goals for Lewis & Clark. She completed her hat trick at 11:53 to give the Pioneers the lead for good and Searle made it 6-4 at 10:46. 
 
Swegle scored three consecutive goals in less than two minutes to extend the lead to 9-4 with 6:25 to play in the quarter. Swegle set up Gonzales for the team's final goal of the third with 3:47 to play to make it 10-4. 
 
Gonzales, Searle and Swegle all added goals in the final stanza to help Lewis & Clark complete a 3-0 week to start the 2025 season. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• The Pioneers zero goals allowed in the second half was their best defensive half in program history. Lewis & Clark had allowed one goal in a half on three occasions prior to Sunday (both halves Saturday vs Pacific Lutheran on Saturday and second half vs Pacific on March 17, 2024). 
• Lewis & Clark finished with a 32-8 shot advantage and 14-7 lead in draw controls. The Pioneers ended the game going 12-13 on clears, compared to a 12-23 mark for Puget Sound. 
• Sophomore Evelyn Burnett recorded an assist on the Pioneers final goal. 
• The Pioneers allowed just six goals across their two wins this weekend. They did not hold an opponent to less than 11 goals in their first collegiate season. 
• Gonzales, Swegle and Mack have all scored hat tricks in all three games this season. The trio have combined to score 34 of the team's 46 goals through three games. 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will play their first non-conference game against a non-Northwest Conference team. The Pioneers will host the University of Redlands on Wednesday at 7 p.m.